Відео

You're very welcome!

;)

I gave him a hot tip on a horse race... :) He must have got a lot of riders from people watching this video I'd say, so he's done well!

Many thanks indeed. I wish you a fortuitous & healthy New Year..!

Indeed...

Personally, I would like to attempt immortality, but the technology is lagging... :)

Yeah, it was sure a lot of fun, cheers! :)

Check that the amount you give & receive is correct BEFORE you walk away from the counter & the person changing the money. ;)

Earplugs are good everywhere in Sth-East Asia, at certain times..! :)

It looks to be going that way...

:)

Merry Christmas! Thanks, & cheers to you also mate! :)

Merry Christmas! Thank you very much! It's like a hidden paradise there - though it's such a long, hard road to get to it.

Cheers Kitty, I think you are right & it has crossed my mind also. The rise of the smart phone has definitely damaged our attention spans! :D It would be difficult for me to fit a full episode into a much shorter video, I think I'm going to need to buy roller skates! Lol...

@SeekeroftheWay-qt5kj yeah, I think nowadays ppl watch UA-cam via phones or tablets, so they don't really need high res lengthy vids (though some prefer those). Some ppl watch vids during their coffee/ snack/ lunch/ ciggy breaks so if the vid is long (~30 min) then they'll tend to choose a shorter vid instead. You can make shorter vids and make a part 1, 2, etc when doing your vids or editing them (maybe add a voice over if it's for part 2 and you didn't make a separate intro). If your vids are too long, if there are few "likes" & interaction, then they won't be pushed by the YT algo. (from what I've heard) I remember when CB media did his Isaan motorbike road trip - I think that was when he got loads of views & subs. He was uploading everyday, each vid was ~15 min. It was during c*vid lockdown & most ppl were at home and couldn't/ wouldn't travel. I subscribed to him at around 60k subs but now he's 200 or 300k+ already. (I unsubscribed a few months later, since I wasn't interested in his car vids.) Cheers & happy Christmas! 🎄

It's a great place. More people should visit it!

Thanks, I really enjoyed filming that one! :)

Cheers! It's always great to hear that, it's the way I intend them to be. :)

@@SeekeroftheWay-qt5kj All the best for your future travels. Hope you continue to show us the world through your lens :)

It's my pleasure! :)

Many thanks! Glad to hear from you! There are some episodes coming up that I am quite sure you will enjoy!

Good to know..! :)

One of the most beautiful cities in Asia... :)

It's a bit of a tribute video... :)

Also, I wanted to explain. Sometimes you will see somebody in the park and they are asking where you are from, then they will say next month their niece will go there or something. That is not always scam. Maybe that is scam but usually the Vietnamese will find something which is related to the visitor to continue the conversation, mostly if you are from an English-speaking country because studying abroad is getting more popular in Saigon these days. But its true, its necessary to be prudent when you meet strangers on the street, but I mean they might use different story to approach instead of the niece's story. Thank you for calling my city Saigon btw!

Saigon is always worth going back to..! :) I appreciate hearing from you, thanks a lot.

Cheers mate! I love Koh Kong. It's a great spot.

It's important to tell people about possible hassles so they can avoid them. It's a big part of why I started the channel - to help people. :) The concrete examples I mentioned in the video were the bus ticket inspector on the bus to Hoi An aggressively trying to over-charge foreigners (which plenty of people have posted about online in similar experiences on the same buses), the one guy on the motorbike almost crashing into me intentionally shown in the video, and the person in the church I mentioned who got upset that I wanted to go into the church. Those are the only concrete examples mentioned in this vid because they are the only ones I have experienced in Danang, though I'm sure there are plenty of other potential hassles to watch out for. It's a great place, and I don't want to make it sound like it's a bad place. I would mention problems in any place in any country I show in the episodes. If you go through a tourist agent to book transport to Hoi An, as you suggested, you pay a lot more. It kind of defeats the entire point of having a bus service. Personally I prefer to challenge scammers head on, if need be, but I don't advocate others should necessarily do it as it's potentially dangerous. It's a matter of principle to me, but I can fully understand and accept it's better for many to do it other ways. There's a vid on UA-cam of a family with a child in a stroller who used that bus and avoided paying extra though the guy tried to over-charge them, which was not something I would do if I had a child with me & maybe you'd be interested to check that one out too. :) Cheers, and thanks, I appreciate the food for thought! :)

@@SeekeroftheWay-qt5kj I understand everything you are telling me without any difficulty. The problem is that to circumscribe negative anecdotes in this way inevitably gives the impression that they are important - even if that is not at all your intention - they are somehow magnified by the simple fact of isolating them. This is a socio-linguistic phenomenon linked to the proliferation of the Internet. As for small travel agencies, I do not remember them being particularly expensive at all, quite the contrary. To get around Da Nang, you do not need to take the bus, you can walk or use very short Grab taxi routes, taking care to agree on the total cost with the driver in advance. Or rent a bike: they are often even free, for example with a whole bunch of small hotels with shared beds. Buses are however necessary and very practical to take us for example from Da Nang to Hoi An. Small travel agencies offer the organization of the Da Nang to Hanoi tour for frankly ridiculous costs. As for the question of scams, the unfriendly people watching the places to visit, or reckless motorcyclists, this is not specifically Vietnamese. Drivers who run red lights or exceed the speed limits permitted by law, vulgar people, without culture or refinement, or those who intimidate, are common in the West! I witness it every week. Urban life in the United States, Canada or Paris is often a degrading and basic spectacle. I feel a thousand times safer if I go out to buy something at midnight in Hanoi or Da Nang than if I go out at the same time in the neighborhoods full of crime and drugs (and thieves) in the Western city centers that I just mentioned (to say nothing of South America!). Vietnam is one of the safest countries in the world according to all the statistical data that I have consulted.

@@SeekeroftheWay-qt5kj I understand everything you are telling me without any difficulty. The problem is that to circumscribe negative anecdotes in this way inevitably gives the impression that they are important - even if that is not at all your intention - they are somehow magnified by the simple fact of isolating them. This is a socio-linguistic phenomenon linked to the proliferation of the Internet. As for small travel agencies, I do not remember them being particularly expensive at all, quite the contrary. To get around Da Nang, you do not need to take the bus, you can walk or use very short Grab taxi routes, taking care to agree on the total cost with the driver in advance. Or rent a bike: they are often even free, for example with a whole bunch of small hotels with shared beds. Buses are however necessary and very practical to take us for example from Da Nang to Hoi An. Small travel agencies offer the organization of the Da Nang to Hanoi tour for frankly ridiculous costs. As for the question of scams, the unfriendly people watching the places to visit, or reckless motorcyclists, this is not specifically Vietnamese. Drivers who run red lights or exceed the speed limits permitted by law, vulgar people, without culture or refinement, or those who intimidate, are common in the West! I witness it every week. Urban life in the United States, Canada or Paris is often a degrading and basic spectacle. I feel a thousand times safer if I go out to buy something at midnight in Hanoi or Da Nang than if I go out at the same time in the neighborhoods full of crime and drugs (and thieves) in the Western city centers that I just mentioned (to say nothing of South America!). Vietnam is one of the safest countries in the world according to all the statistical data that I have consulted.

Lol... that's the old Chinese-Thai dudes neighborhood for that kind of nightlife, that's what it's like that today, but it's still notorious. It's important to document it while it still exists. There are other neighborhoods that are for foreigners that are very wild where you wouldn't be bored. :) A lot of that type of stuff is moving online now so in the long term everywhere will become more boring as far as wild nightlife goes.

Cheers! :)

Great... :) Surin has a lot of unique flavor!

@SeekeroftheWay-qt5kj i can't wait to go.. I love Thailand so much!

So very kind of you, thank you!

In gratitude... Cheers... :)

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks! :)

Yes, definitely one of the best in the entire region! :)

Yes, it's very special! :)

Definitely clean..!

Some parts are ok, some parts are quite bad. Just be take it not too fast & should be ok. Make sure you get a decent scooter. ;)

Yes, it's like a place the world forgot...

Thanks! :)

Up there in the very far north it was pretty hard going hitchhiking. I've hitchhiked around the world over many decades & that was some of the hardest...

Thank you :)

Fried chicken or other meat that looks cleanly cooked with rice, usually. Local stuff. Often there's not much choice! ;)

They don't speak like lao they must their own x

I've seen the people up at Mae Sot wading across when the river level is low too. Seems like things are more controlled these days, but a few days ago internet cables that were strung across the Mae Sot bridge supplying the scam call centers in Myawaddy were cut by Thai authorities. I won't expect any bosses there to be held accountable though. Yep, lots of dodgy dealings. Every province is a little fiefdom in this part of the world. Thanks for the snail tip! I will look out for those cooked in the fashion you mentioned!

Hi Kitty, Nice to hear from you again. I think people need a visa for Thailand to be able to use the Vientiane to Udon Thani direct bus. Usually there are also vans waiting next to the border on the Thailand side that go to Udon. I tried hitching it once too, which went well enough. Nong Khai is a nice spot for a night as well, though it could do with more cheap hotel options. The story of the artist setting up 1 Buddha park in Laos and then later setting up a 2nd Buddha park in Thailand almost directly opposite the first one is pretty interesting. Both parks are similar, but definitely different and equally worth visiting. Locals in Vientiane say couples shouldn't visit together or their relationship will probably fall apart.

@SeekeroftheWay-qt5kj Lol re: the Buddha Park superstition. I didn't know that! 😂 Re: having a visa for TH, I think that's a new-ish requirement. (maybe post c*vid?) Back in 2016, they didn't check for visas before or during the bus ride. My seatmate was an Indian girl. She didn't have a pre-approved visa for TH. We had to wait for her visa to be processed so that the bus could depart from the Lao immigration part. She was the last one to board the bus.

Hi Kitty, Hat Lek is one of my favorites, even if the Cambodian immigration try it on heavily for tea money. :) I took a casino bus from Aranyaphrathet to Bangkok from right out next to the Poipet crossing once and it was nice & comfy. There was one that used to leave from Lumphini Park to the border - but I never tried it on the outward journey, yeah I think it's been always Mo Chit for me outward - & there was one time that I took the train BKK-Aranyaphrathet - which was 4 hours on an old cute local train & very colorful. A little old lady stole my seat! 😲😉

@SeekeroftheWay-qt5kj yes, that was the same casino bus that I took, from Lumpini park. As we alighted from the bus (at the Thai border), a kind Thai lady told me to be back at that point by "3 and a half o'clock" 🤔😊 if I will ride back to BKK. I told her that I was travelling to Cambodia, so I didn't need the return ride. Good memories. Cheers & take care!

Oh, that's great to hear. I plan to do more videos in the future about former Portuguese colonies. That short video is just a promo video for the full length episode, and actually there are 3 full length episodes on Malacca.

Vietnam is great! I think you'd be interested in the Saigon nightlife video also. Actually, a lot of the videos of smaller cities in Thailand mention nightlife as well, it's just that of course it's on a smaller scale so I decided to include it in the main video about the place!

You're doing well! Lots of trips equal lots of fun learning! Those ear buds sound interesting, I'd love to know more about them.

You're welcome! Consider it a public service! :)

Thanks! Drop me a line via email if you want to chat about gear! Cheers! ;)